- English bodkin, 16th c.
- Europe
- United Kingdom
- Width : inch
- Height : inch
- Depth : inch
- From England, this silver bodkin hair pin dates back to the 16 - 17 th century. Bodkins had a variety of uses. The scoop could have been used as an ear cleaner. Cloth workers used bodkins, both sharp and blunt in their work. Sharp bodkins were used to make holes in fabric, but blunt bodkins were used for drawing a tape or ribbon through a loop or hem. Decorative bodkins were very fashionable and were worn in the hair as well. Bodkins could also have a medical function - they could be used to pierce and drain swellings and for cleaning ulcers. 1600-1699 Illustration: Portrait of a Woman with a Bodkin in Her Hair, Wenceslaus Hollar 1636.
